Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950, Detroit, Michigan) is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of ''Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone'', and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on rock music.

Early years

Marsh briefly attended Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

Writing career

In 1979, Marsh wrote a now-famous review in ''Rolling Stone'' of the album ''Jazz'' by Queen, in which he wrote, "Queen may be the first truly fascist rock band." (''Rolling Stone'', Feb. 8th 1979). His opinion of Queen had evidently softened when he wrote in the 1979 ''Rolling Stone Record Guide'' merely that "''Jazz'' was another bombastic farce."

In the 1983 ''Rolling Stone Record Guide'' on Journey, Marsh wrote, "Journey was a dead end for San Francisco area rock.”

Marsh has published four books about singer/musician Bruce Springsteen. Some of these became bestsellers, including ''Born to Run'' and ''Glory Days''. Marsh is closely associated with Springsteen because his wife, Barbara Carr, is one of Springsteen's co-managers. Marsh is also closely associated with Jon Landau, a Springsteen manager and producer, for the same reason.

Marsh has edited and contributed to ''Rock and Roll Confidential'', a newsletter about rock music and social issues. The newsletter has since been renamed ''Rock and Rap Confidential''.

Marsh contributed to the 1994 book ''Mid-Life Confidential'', a book about and by the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock band composed of American authors.

Along with ''Rolling Stone'' magazine publisher Jann Wenner, Marsh has been involved in organizing and maintaining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. However, Marsh has courted, at times, controversy with his style of maintaining selections and at one time was asked to resign.

Dave Marsh was the first music critic to employ the term punk rock: In the May 1971 issue of Creem, he described ? and the Mysterians, one of the most popular 1960s garage rock acts, as giving a "landmark exposition of punk rock".

Talk shows

Dave Marsh hosts three Sirius XM Radio shows, one called ''Live from E Street Nation'', airing on E Street Radio and the second ''Kick Out the Jams'', airing Sundays on eclectic-rock channel The Loft. The title references the MC5 album ''Kick Out the Jams''.

Marsh's third Sirius program, the political talk show ''Live From the Land of Hopes and Dreams'', airs Sunday afternoons on Sirius Left, channel 146 and America Left, channel 167 on XM Satellite Radio.

Charitable causes

Marsh is a co-founder and trustee of The Kristen Ann Carr Fund , created in memory of his daughter who died in 1993 from sarcoma, a form of cancer. The fund is dedicated to supporting research in the treatment and cure of sarcoma, as well as improving the lives of young adult cancer patients and their families.

Marsh is also a member of the National Advisory Board of PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children.

Publications

''Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story'', (Doubleday) 1979

''The Book of Rock Lists'', (Dell) 1980

''Elvis'', (Times Books) 1982

''Rocktopicon: Unlikely questions and their surprising answers'', (Contemporary) 1982

''Before I Get Old: The Story of the Who'', (St. Martin's Press) 1983

''Fortunate Son'' (Random House) 1983. A collection of his journalism and criticism.

''The First Rock and Roll Confidential Report: Inside the Real World of Rock and Roll'', 1984. Compilation.

''Sun City: The Making of the Record ,(Penguin) 1985

''Trapped: Michael Jackson and the Crossover Dream'', (Bantam) 1986

''The Rolling Stone Record Guide: Reviews and Ratings of Almost 10,000 Currently Available Rock, Pop, Soul, Country, Blues, Jazz, and Gospel Albums'' (first and second editions 1979, 1983)

''Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s'', 1987. A sequel to ''Born to Run''.

''The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made'', (NAL) 1989

''Heaven Is Under Our Feet: A Book for Walden Woods'', co-editor with Don Henley, (Longmeadow Press, 1991)

''50 Ways to Fight Censorship: And Important Facts to Know About the Censors'' (Thunder's Mouth Press), 1991

''Louie Louie: The History and Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock'n'Roll song; Including the Full Details of Its Torture and Persecution at the Hands of the Kingsmen, J. Edgar Hoover's F.B.I., and a Cast of Millions; and Introducing, for the First Time Anywhere, the Actual Dirty Lyrics'', (Hyperion), 1992.

''Merry Christmas Baby: Holiday Music from Bing to Sting'', (Little Brown) 1992.

''Pastures of Plenty: A Self-Portrait'' with Harold Levanthal and featuring the writings of Woody Guthrie (Perennial) 1992

''The New Book of Rock Lists'' with James Bernard, (Fireside) 1994

''Mid-Life Confidential: The Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude'' (Viking) 1994

''Sam and Dave'' (For the Record series), (Harper Perennial) 1998

''Sly and the Family Stone: An Oral History'' (For the Record series), (Quill) 1998

''George Clinton & P-Funkadelic'' (For the Record series), (Harper Perennial) 1998

''Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts : The Definitive Biography, 1972-2003'', (Routledge) 2003. Combines earlier two works about Bruce and adds a new chapter.

''Forever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylan'' with Douglas R. Gilbert (Da Capo Press) 2005

''Bruce Springsteen on Tour : 1968-2005'' (Bloomsbury USA) 2006

''The Beatles' Second Album'' (Rodale Books) 2007

References

External links

''Rock and Rap Confidential''

Biographical Information for Dave Marsh

Rock's Back Pages (list of articles)

The Heart of Rock and Soul

Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Wayne State University alumni Category:American music critics Category:American music journalists Category:Bruce Springsteen Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Detroit, Michigan

it:Dave Marsh hu:Dave Marsh pt:Dave Marsh

name	Bob Costas
birth date	March 22, 1952
birth name	Robert Quinlan Costas
birth place	Queens, New York, U.S.
occupation	Sportscaster
spouse	Jill Sutton (2004–present)Carole Krumenacher (1983–2001, divorced, 2 children)
parents	Jayne and John Costas
children	Keith and Taylor }}

Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.

Early life

Bob Costas was born in Queens, New York. He is the son of Jayne (née Quinlan) of Irish American descent and John George Costas of Greek American descent, who was an electrical engineer. In Ken Burns' Baseball (TV Series), Costas indicated that he had a very poor relationship with his father, but did not go into specifics. He grew up in Commack, New York, graduating from Commack High School South. Following high school, he majored in Communications & Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University where he dropped out of school. Later he received an honorary degree from S. I. Newhouse School of Communications.

Broadcasting career

Early career

His sportscasting career started while attending Syracuse University, as an announcer for the Syracuse Blazers minor-league hockey team playing in the Eastern Hockey League and North American Hockey League.

Costas' career as a professional began at KMOX radio in St. Louis, where he served as a play-by-play announcer for the Spirits of St. Louis of the American Basketball Association. He also called Missouri Tigers basketball for KMOX, and co-hosted the station's ''Open Line'' call-in program.

Costas was a prominent contributor to the ABA book ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association''. He is extensively quoted on many topics, and the book includes his reflections of ABA life during his tenure as radio voice of the Spirits of St. Louis.

Costas later did play-by-play for Chicago Bulls broadcasts on WGN-TV during the 1979–1980 season. He was briefly employed by the CBS network prior to joining NBC Sports in 1980.

NBC Sports

When Costas was first hired by NBC, Don Ohlmeyer, who at the time ran NBC Sports, told the then 28-year-old Costas that he looked like a 14-year-old. Ohlmeyer presumably based his reaction on Costas' modest stature (Costas is 5' 7" in height) and boyish, babyfaced appearance.

He has been an in-studio host of National Football League coverage and play-by-play man for the NBA and for Major League Baseball. Costas has teamed with Isiah Thomas and Doug Collins for basketball telecasts (from 1997–2000) and Tony Kubek (from 1983–1989), Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker (from 1994–2000) for baseball telecasts. Before becoming the studio host for ''The NFL on NBC'' in 1984, Costas did play-by-play with analyst Bob Trumpy for NFL games.

Since 2001, he has been the co-host of the Kentucky Derby. Since 1995, Costas has also hosted NBC's coverage of the U.S. Open golf tournament.

In 2009, he hosted Bravo's coverage of the 2009 Kentucky Oaks.

Olympics

Costas has frontlined many Olympics broadcasts for NBC. They include the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, Salt Lake City in 2002, Athens in 2004, Torino in 2006, Beijing in 2008, and Vancouver in 2010. He discusses his work on the Olympic telecasts extensively in a book by Andrew Billings entitled ''Olympic Media: Inside the Biggest Show on Television''. A personal influence on Costas has been legendary ABC Sports broadcaster Jim McKay, who hosted many Olympics for ABC from the 1960s to the 1980s.

During the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Opening Ceremonies, Costas' remarks on the China Team's possible drug use caused an uproar among the American Chinese and international communities. Thousands of dollars were raised to purchase ads in the ''Washington Post'' and Sunday ''New York Times'', featuring an image of the head of a statue of Apollo and reading: "Costas Poisoned Olympic Spirit, Public Protests NBC." However, Costas' comments were made subsequent to the suspension of Chinese coach Zhou Ming after seven of his swimmers were caught using steroids in 1994. Further evidence of Chinese athletes' drug use came in 1997 when Australian authorities confiscated 13 vials of Somatropin, a human growth hormone, from the bag of Chinese swimmer Yuan Yuan upon her arrival for the 1997 World Swimming Championships. At the World Championships, four Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned substance Triamterene, a diuretic used to dilute urine samples in order to mask the presence of anabolic steroids. Including these failed drug tests, 27 Chinese swimmers were caught using performance enhancing drugs from 1990 through 1997; more than the rest of the world combined.

Major League Baseball

One of Bob Costas' most memorable broadcasts occurred on June 23, 1984 (in what would go down in baseball lore as ''The Sandberg Game''). Costas, along with Tony Kubek, was calling the Saturday baseball ''Game of the Week'' from Chicago's Wrigley Field. The game between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals in particular was cited for putting Ryne Sandberg (as well as the 1984 Cubs in general, who would go on to make their first postseason appearance since 1945) "on the map." In the ninth inning, the Cubs trailed 9–8, and faced the premier relief pitcher of the time, Bruce Sutter. Sandberg, then not known for his power, slugged a home run to left field against the Cardinals' ace closer. Despite this dramatic act, the Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the tenth. Sandberg came up again in the tenth inning, facing a determined Sutter with one man on base. Sandberg then shocked the national audience by hitting a second home run, even farther into the left field bleachers, to tie the game again. The Cubs went on to win in the 11th inning. Costas said when Sandberg hit that second home run, ''"Do you believe it?!"'' Willie McGee hit for the cycle in the same game.

While broadcasting Game 4 of the 1988 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics on NBC, Costas angered many members of the Dodgers (especially the team's manager, Tommy Lasorda) by commenting that the team quite possibly had the weakest-hitting lineup in World Series history. Later (while being interviewed by NBC's Marv Albert), after the Dodgers had won Game 4 (en route to a 4–1 series victory), Lasorda sarcastically suggested that the MVP of the 1988 World Series should be Bob Costas.

Besides calling the 1989 American League Championship Series for NBC, Costas also filled-in for a suddenly ill Vin Scully, who had come down with laryngitis, for Game 2 of the 1989 National League Championship Series. Game 2 of the NLCS occurred on Thursday, October 5, which was an off day for the ALCS. NBC then decided to fly Costas from Toronto to Chicago to substitute for Scully on Thursday night. Afterwards, Costas flew back to Toronto, where he resumed work on the ALCS the next night.

Bob Costas anchored NBC's pre and post-game for NFL broadcasts and the pre and post-game shows for numerous World Series and Major League Baseball All-Star Games during the 1980s (the first being for the 1982 World Series). Costas didn't get a shot at doing play-by-play (as the games on NBC were previously called by Vin Scully) for an All-Star Game until 1994 and a World Series until 1995 (when NBC split the coverage with ABC under "The Baseball Network" umbrella). It wasn't until 1997 when Costas finally got the chance to do play-by-play for a World Series from start to finish. Costas ended up winning a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality, Play-by-Play.

In 1999, Costas teamed with his then-NBC colleague, Joe Morgan to call two weekday night telecasts for ESPN. The first was on Wednesday, August 25 with Detroit Tigers playing against the Seattle Mariners. The second was on Tuesday, September 21 with the Atlanta Braves playing against the New York Mets.

National Basketball Association

When NBC gained the NBA network contract from CBS in 1990, Costas hosted the telecasts and was teamed in the studio with ex-Lakers coach Pat Riley. He also hosted the studio program ''Showtime'' and did play-by-play for the 1991 All-Star Game. In 1997, Costas began a three year stint as the lead play-by-play man for ''The NBA on NBC''. NBC enlisted Costas' services after they were forced to (temporarily) remove Marv Albert from their broadcasts due to lingering personal and legal problems at the time. Costas stepped aside following the 2000 NBA Finals, in favor of a returning Marv Albert.

While this, in essence, ended his active role on the ''NBA on NBC'' program (by this point, Hannah Storm and briefly Ahmad Rashad had replaced Costas on studio anchoring duties), Costas would return to do play-by-play for selected playoff games. Costas also anchored NBC's NBA Finals coverage in 2002, which was their last to date as Hannah Storm also anchored it with Costas.

National Football League

In 2006, Costas returned to studio hosting duties on ''The NFL on NBC'' (under the ''Football Night in America'' banner), which was returning after a near ten year hiatus. Costas last hosted NFL telecasts for NBC in 1992.

Costas is nicknamed "Rapping Roberto" by ''New York Daily News'' sports media columnist Bob Raissman. Al Michaels also called him "Rapping Roberto" during the telecast between the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Giants on September 10, 2006, in response to Costas calling him "Alfalfa."

National Hockey League

Costas hosted NBC's coverage of the 2008, 2009 and the 2010 NHL Winter Classic. He was scheduled to host coverage of the 2011 event as well, however due to the game's postponement Costas only hosted pre-game coverage before leaving to go to Seattle for his duties with NBC's NFL coverage the next night.

Talk show hosting

Costas also hosted the syndicated radio program ''Costas Coast to Coast'' from 1986–1996, which was later revived as ''Costas on the Radio''. ''Costas on the Radio'', which ended its three year run on May 31, 2009, aired on 200 stations nationwide each weekend and syndicated by the Clear Channel owned Premiere Radio Networks. Like ''Later'', Costas' radio shows have focused on a wide variety of topics, and have not been limited to sports discussion.

Costas hosted ''Later with Bob Costas'' on NBC from 1988 until 1994. This late night show created by Dick Ebersol, coming on at 1:30 a.m. as the third program in NBC's nightly lineup after ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' and ''Late Night With David Letterman'', was something of a break from the typical TV talk show format of the era, featuring Costas and a single guest having a conversation for the entire half hour, without a band, opening monologue or studio audience. On several occasions, Costas held the guest over for multiple nights, and these in-depth discussions won Costas much praise for his interviewing skills. The show was taped in GE Building's studio 8H at the Rockefeller Plaza with Costas interviewing the guest for 45 minutes to an hour before turning the material over to editors who condensed it down to 22 minutes plus commercial breaks.

In June 2005, Costas was named by CNN president, Jonathan Klein, as a regular substitute anchor for Larry King's ''Larry King Live'' for one year. Costas, as well as Klein, have said that Costas was not trying out for King's position on a permanent basis. Nancy Grace was also named a regular substitute host for the show.

On August 18, 2005, Costas refused to host a ''Larry King Live'' broadcast where the subject was missing teenager Natalee Holloway. Costas said he had no hard feelings about the subject, but that he was uncomfortable with it.

HBO Sports

In 2001, Costas was hired by HBO to host a 12 week series called ''On the Record with Bob Costas''. ''On the Record with Bob Costas'' was similar to the format of the old ''Later'' program as they both concentrated on in-depth interviews.

In 2002, Costas began a stint as co-host of HBO's long running series ''Inside the NFL''. Costas remained host of ''Inside the NFL'' through the end of the 2007 NFL season. He hosted the show with Cris Collinsworth and former NFL legends Dan Marino and Cris Carter. The program aired each week during the NFL season.

In 2005, ''On the Record with Bob Costas'' was revamped to become ''Costas Now'', a monthly show that would focus more on sports and air year-round in a 9 p.m. ET/PT time slot. ''Costas Now'' was more akin to HBO's ''Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel''.

Costas left HBO to sign with MLB Network in February 2009.

MLB Network

Costas agreed to become a contributor to MLB Network. At the channel's launch on January 1, 2009, he hosted the premiere episode of ''All Time Games'', a presentation of the recently-discovered kinescope of Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. During the episode, he held a forum with Don Larsen, who pitched MLB's only postseason perfect game during that game, and Yogi Berra, who caught the game.

Costas joined the network full-time on February 3, 2009. He hosts a regular interview show titled ''MLB Network Studio 42 with Bob Costas'' as well as special programming, and provides play-by-play for select live ''Thursday Night Baseball'' games.

Other appearances

Costas provided significant contributions to the Ken Burns, PBS mini series ''Baseball'' as well as its follow-up ''The 10th Inning''. He also appears in another PBS film, ''A Time for Champions'', produced by St. Louis' Nine Network of Public Media.

Interests

Love of baseball

Costas is a devoted baseball fan (he's been suggested as a potential commissioner) and wrote ''Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball'' in 2000. For his 40th birthday, then Oakland Athletics manager Tony La Russa allowed Costas to manage the club during a spring training game. The first time Costas visited baseball legend Stan Musial's St. Louis eatery, he left a $3.31 tip in homage to Musial's lifetime batting average (.331). Costas delivered the eulogy at Mickey Mantle's funeral. In eulogizing Mantle, Costas described the baseball legend as ''"a fragile hero to whom we had an emotional attachment so strong and lasting that it defied logic."'' Costas has even carried a 1958 Mickey Mantle baseball card in his wallet.

Costas has been fairly outspoken about his disdain for Major League Baseball instituting a wild card. Costas believes that it diminishes the significance of winning a divisional championship. He prefers a system in which winning the wild card puts a team at some sort of disadvantage, as opposed to on an equal level with teams by which they were outplayed over a 162 game season. Or, as explained in his book ''Fair Ball'', have only the three division winners in each league go to the postseason, with the team with the best record receiving a bye into the League Championship Series. Once, on the air on HBO's ''Inside the NFL'', he mentioned that the NFL regular season counted for something, but baseball's was beginning to lose significance.

Costas serves as a member of the advisory board of the Baseball Assistance Team, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to helping former Major League, Minor League, and Negro League players through financial and medical difficulties.

Political views

Costas declared on June 27, 2007, that the presidency of George W. Bush had "tragically failed."

''Some people may wonder about the [political] feelings that I've expressed, and I won't get into all the particulars. I think it is now overwhelmingly evident, if you're honest about it, even if you're a conservative Republican, if you're honest about it, this is a failed administration. And no honest conservative would say that George W. Bush was among the 500 most qualified people to be President of the United States. That's not based on political leaning. If a liberal, and I tend to be liberal, disagrees with a conservative, they can still respect that person's competence and the integrity of their point of view. This administration can be rightly criticized by a fair-minded person smack in the middle of the political spectrum on a hundred different counts, and by now they're all self-evident."

The following summer, Costas would interview Bush, as he made an appearance during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Personal life

Costas was married from 1983 to 2001 to Carole "Randy" Randall Krummenacher. They had two children, son Keith (born 1986) and daughter Taylor (born 1989). Costas once jokingly promised Minnesota Twins center fielder Kirby Puckett that if he was batting over .350 by the time his child was born he would name the baby Kirby. Kirby was hitting better than .350, but Bob's son initially was not given a first (or second) name of Kirby. After Puckett reminded Costas of the agreement, the birth certificate was changed to "Keith Michael Kirby Costas". On March 12, 2004, Costas married his second wife, Jill Sutton. Costas resides in St. Louis, Missouri.

Awards and honors

Bob Costas has won multiple National Sportcaster of the Year awards from the National Sportcasters and Sportswriters Association and the American Sportscasters Association (1989, '91, '92 and '93), and nearly 20 Emmy Awards for outstanding sports announcing. In 1999, Costas was a recipient of the Curt Gowdy Award, which is awarded to members of the electronic and print media for outstanding contributions to baseball. He is also an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

He was selected as the Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism recipient in 2004.

In 2006, Costas was also awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Loyola College in Maryland.

He is a Honorary Trustee of Webster University, a private college located in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves. He is a frequent supporter of the school, to include numerous radio commercials

In popular culture

Costas has occasionally played himself on various programs.

Costas once appeared on the television program, ''NewsRadio'', as himself. He hosted an award show and later had some humorous encounters with the crew of WNYX.

Costas also once appeared as a guest on the faux talkshow cartoon ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast''. Costas appeared on the ''The War to Settle the Score'', a pre-''WrestleMania'' program that The WWF aired on MTV.

Costas appeared as himself along with his rival/counterpart Al Michaels (who now works for NBC) from ABC in the movie ''BASEketball''.

On January 30, 2009, Costas guest starred as himself on the television series ''Monk'' in an episode titled ''Mr. Monk Makes the Playoffs''. He mentions to Captain Stottlemeyer about how Adrian Monk once helped him out of a problem several years ago with regards to a demented cat salesman. Of course, it wasn't the cat salesman who was demented: he sold demented cats. He apparently sold Costas a cat that was going to try and kill him with a squeeze toy (in fact, when he signs off, he says "The cat was definitely trying to kill me").

Costas also appeared as himself in the movie ''Pootie Tang'' where he remarks that he saw "the longest damn clip ever". *Costas was "supposed" to appear in the fourth season premiere of ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' (ironically titled "Where is Bob Costas?") as a guest-commentator, but about halfway through the episode it was revealed that John Tesh had killed him before the show to take his place. Tesh had been criticized all-around for Gymnastics coverage during the 1996 Olympics.

Apart from his normal sportscasting duties, Costas has also presented periodic sports blooper reels, and announced dogsled and elevator races, on ''Late Night with David Letterman''.

Bob Costas has been impersonated several times by Darrell Hammond on ''Saturday Night Live''.

In a supposed effort to fulfill a deal he made on ''The Late Late Show'' with Craig Kilborn, as coverage of a game resumed he sipped a glass of pink lemonade and said ''"Ah, that's restaurant quality lemonade."''

Costas has been alluded to in popular music. Arguably his most honorable accomplishment was having his named mentioned in the Mac Dre song "Mafioso"-"Got game like Bob Costas." Costas was "name checked" in a Ludacris song after he mentioned the rapper on the late night talk show ''Last Call with Carson Daly''.

On September 11, 2001 (the day of the terrorist attacks), Costas was in New York City for an appearance on NBC's ''Today Show'' to discuss with Katie Couric basketball legend Michael Jordan's return to the NBA. The interview started off at approximately 7:03 a.m. Eastern Time.

In 2002, Bob was the play-by-play announcer, alongside Harold Reynolds, for ''Triple Play 2002'' during the ballgame for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

In 2006, Costas voiced the animated character Bob Cutlass, a race announcer, in the movie ''Cars''.

On October 18, 2007, Costas appeared along with former Baseball Commissioner, Fay Vincent at Williams College for "A Conversation About Sports" moderated by Will Dudley, Associate Professor of Philosophy.

On June 13, 2008, Costas appeared on MSNBC's commercial-free special coverage of ''Remembering Tim Russert (1950~2008)''.

On February 11, 2010, Stephen Colbert jokingly expressed his desire to stab Costas at the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Costas later made a cameo appearance on the February 25, 2010 edition of Stephen's show.

He guest-voiced as himself in ''The Simpsons'' 2010 episode, "Boy Meets Curl", when Homer and Marge make the U.S. Olympic curling team.

Memorable calls

Career timeline

1974–1976: Spirits of St. Louis Play-by-play, KMOX radio

1976-1981: Missouri Tigers men's basketball Play-by-play, KMOX radio

1976-1979: ''NFL on CBS'' Play-by-play

1979–1980: Chicago Bulls Play-by-play, WGN-TV

1980-1983: ''NFL on NBC'' Play-by-play

1983–1989: ''MLB on NBC'' #2 play-by-play

1984–1992, 2006–present: ''NFL on NBC'' Studio Host 1988–1994: ''Later'' Host 1992–present: Summer Olympics Primetime Host

1994–2000: ''MLB on NBC'' Lead play-by-play

1997–2000: ''NBA on NBC'' Lead play-by-play

2001–2009: ''On the Record with Bob Costas'' and ''Costas Now'' Host

2002–present: Winter Olympics Primetime Host

2002–2008: ''Inside the NFL'' Host 2008–present: AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic Host

2009–present: MLB Network ''Studio 42 with Bob Costas'' Host, ''Thursday Night Baseball'' Play-by-play

References

External links

Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:American Basketball Association broadcasters Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American horse racing announcers Category:American people of Greek descent Category:American sports radio personalities Category:American sportswriters Category:American talk radio hosts Category:Missouri Democrats Category:American television sports announcers Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Chicago Bulls broadcasters Category:College basketball announcers in the United States Category:College football announcers Category:Figure skating commentators Category:Golf writers and broadcasters Category:Major League Baseball announcers Category:Missouri Tigers men's basketball broadcasters Category:MLB Network personalities Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:National Football League announcers Category:NBC Sports Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri Category:People from Suffolk County, New York Category:Spirits of St. Louis Category:Sports Emmy Award winners Category:Sportspeople from Queens Category:Syracuse University alumni Category:Tennis commentators

it:Bob Costas ru:Костас, Боб

name	Nick Thoman
fullname	Nicholas Thoman
nationality
strokes	Backstroke
club	SwimMAC Carolina
collegeteam	Arizona Wildcats
birth date	March 06, 1986
birth place	Cincinnati, Ohio
height
medaltemplates	}}

}}

Nicholas ("Nick") Thoman (born March 6, 1986) is an American backstroke swimmer. He currently holds the world record in the 100-meter backstroke (short course).

He has won a total of six medals in major international competition, two gold, one silver, and three bronze spanning the World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships, and Summer Universiade.

Career

At the 2009 Duel in the Pool, a short course meet, Thoman combined with Mark Gangloff, Michael Phelps, and Nathan Adrian in 4×100-meter medley relay to break the world record previously held by Canada. While leading off the relay, Thoman also broke the world record in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 48.94.

At the 2010 National Championships, Thoman qualified to swim at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in the 50, 100 and 200-meter backstroke. In the 100-meter backstroke final at the 2010 National Championships, Thoman was out first at the first 50 with a time of 25.80. However, he faded to third place with a time of 53.78, finishing behind David Plummer and Aaron Peirsol. In the 200-meter backstroke final, Thoman finished in 5th place with a time of 1:57.7. At the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Thoman won bronze in the 50-meter backstroke.

At the 2010 FINA Short Course World Championships in Dubai, Thoman won a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay with Mihail Alexandrov, Ryan Lochte, and Garrett Weber-Gale. Thoman also competed in the 50 and 100-meter backstroke in Dubai but finished out of medal contention in both events.

At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, Thoman placed fourth in the final of the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 53.01. In the 4×100-meter medley relay with Mark Gangloff, Michael Phelps, and Nathan Adrian, Thoman won gold with a time of 3:32.06. Swimming the backstroke leg, Thoman had a time of 53.61.

Personal bests

.

!Event	!Time	!Venue	!Date	!Note(s)
50 m backstroke (long course)	25.02		August 19, 2010
100 m backstroke (long course)	52.51		August 7, 2009
200 m backstroke (long course)	1:54.59	Federal Way	August 5, 2009
50 m backstroke (short course)	23.28	Dubai	December 18, 2010
100 m backstroke (short course)	48.94	Manchester	December 18, 2009
200 m backstroke (short course)	1:50.05	Manchester	December 18, 2009

Key: WR = World record

References

External links

USA Swimming athlete bio: Nick Thoman

Arkady Vyatchanin & Stanislav Donets|title=Men's 100 m backstrokeworld record holder (short course)|years= December 18, 2009 – present |after=Incumbent|rec}}

Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:American swimmers Category:World record holders in swimming Category:People from Cincinnati, Ohio Category:Male backstroke swimmers

fr:Nick Thoman nl:Nick Thoman pl:Nick Thoman

name	Joel Plaskett
background	solo_singer
born	April 18, 1975Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada
origin	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums, mandolin, keyboards
genre	Indie rockFolkFolk rock
occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer
years active	1992–present
label	MapleMusic, New Scotland Records
associated acts	Joel Plaskett Emergency, Thrush Hermit, Neuseiland
website	www.joelplaskett.com
notable instruments	Fender StratocasterGibson RD }}

Joel Plaskett (born April 18, 1975) is a Canadian rock musician originally from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and now resides across the harbour in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He has been a prominent figure in the Canadian indie rock scene of the 1990s and 2000s.

Life and career

Thrush Hermit

In 1992, Plaskett created alternative rock band Thrush Hermit with Rob Benvie (vocals, guitar), Ian McGettigan (vocals, bass), and Michael Catano (drums). Plaskett was the lead singer and guitarist for the Halifax-based band as well as the band's primary songwriter, until their breakup in late 1999.

Neuseiland

In late 1998, Neuseiland was formed by Plaskett of Thrush Hermit, as well as members of popular Halifax bands The Super Friendz and Coyote, the Euphonic, both of which had also recently broken up. Taking the name of the band from a Dutch children's book by Annie Schmidt called The Island of Nose, the band consisted of Plaskett on drums, Charles Austin and Drew Yamada on guitar, Andrew Glencross on keyboard and Tim Stewart on bass. They cited King Tubby, Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, Ray's Chicken Pita and Willie Nelson as influences. The goal of the band was to mix conventional song structure with experimentation inspired by krautrock, stoogian protoplasm and the subtractive mixing techniques of "version" reggae. The band released one album, the self titled ''Neuseiland'', recorded and released in 1999.

Solo work and the Emergency

After the breakup of Thrush Hermit and Neuseiland, Plaskett embarked on a solo career. His first release, ''In Need of Medical Attention'', consisted of leftover songs that were written near the end of his days in Thrush Hermit. It was successful, but not until the release of 2001's ''Down at the Khyber'' featuring a new backing band, The Emergency, did Plaskett begin to enjoy widespread solo appeal. The Emergency consisted of Plaskett, drummer Dave Marsh and bass player Tim Brennan, though old friend Ian McGettigan could often be seen playing bass at their shows. The third album of Plaskett's post-Thrush Hermit career and second of the Emergency's, ''Truthfully, Truthfully'' was a commercial success. MapleMusic Recordings is the current recording label for both The Emergency and Plaskett's solo efforts. Plaskett and the band have toured throughout North America and Europe with such performers as The Tragically Hip, Sloan and Kathleen Edwards.

The Joel Plaskett Emergency has been nominated for two Juno Awards, both in the alternative album category. The group won Rock Recording of the Year at the 2005 East Coast Music Awards, for the album ''Truthfully, Truthfully''.

Plaskett released his second solo album, ''La De Da'' in 2005, which garnered him two East Coast Music Awards in 2006, Male Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year, for the song "Happen Now". He was also nominated for the Songwriter of the Year Juno Award, but lost to Arcade Fire.

''La De Da'' was released in Australia on March 6, 2006 by local company Code One Entertainment. In April 2006, Plaskett toured the east coast of Australia (in solo mode) extensively to promote the release.

In March 2006, Joel Plaskett Emergency released their first DVD, ''Make a Little Noise''. It included an EP of three songs. The single "Nowhere With You" has received the most mainstream radio airplay of any Plaskett release to date, and was featured in a Zellers television commercial. ''Make a Little Noise'' had three wins at the 2007 East Coast Music Awards: DVD of the Year, Single of the Year ("Nowhere with You"), and Songwriter of the Year (Joel Plaskett, for "Nowhere with You").

On March 3, 2007, Joel Plaskett Emergency released an Australia-only compilation, ''Make a Little Noise'', a collection of songs from ''Down at the Khyber'', ''Truthfully, Truthfully'' and the EP from the DVD. The DVD is also in included in this package as a bonus. The band toured Australia for the first time in March–April 2007, supporting Australian band Augie March.

On April 17, 2007, their first album to include their new bassist, Chris Pennell, was released. The album, ''Ashtray Rock'', is described by the band as a concept album. ''Ashtray Rock'' was on the shortlist for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize, but lost to Patrick Watson's album ''Close to Paradise''. The album's single "Fashionable People" was nominated for the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards for pop/rock song of the year.

During the week of December 10, 2007, Plaskett and the Emergency played six consecutive shows at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto as part of the music venue's 60th-anniversary celebrations. Each night, a different album was performed in its entirety, starting with ''In Need of Medical Attention'' on Monday and finishing with ''Ashtray Rock'' on Friday night and Saturday night.

Joel Plaskett Emergency were nominated for seven East Coast Music Awards in 2008, more than any other act. They won six of those awards, which is tied with a previous record.

His most recent studio album, ''Three'', was released on March 24, 2009. It consists of three discs each consisting of nine songs for a total of 27 songs. The first single from the album is "Through and Through and Through". The triple album was nominated for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize short list. In the same week that the Polaris shortlist was announced, Paul McCartney announced that he had selected Plaskett and the band Wintersleep as the opening acts for his July 11 concert at Halifax Common.

In November 2009, he recorded a new song, "On the Rail", for CBC Radio 2's ''Great Canadian Song Quest''.

In May 2011, he became the first artist ever to reach one million plays on CBC Radio 3's online music streaming site, and released an exclusive acoustic version of "Nowhere with You" to the network for the occasion. In June, he is scheduled to release a B-sides and rarities compilation titled ''EMERGENCYs, false alarms, shipwrecks, castaways, fragile creatures, special features, demons and demonstrations''.

Other collaborations

In recent years, Plaskett has embarked upon a number of projects. He has acted as record producer for Atlantic Canadian artists such as Polaris Music Prize-nominated Two Hours Traffic and Little Miss Moffet. As well, in 2004 he made his television debut as a rock coach on the CBC Television documentary series ''Rock Camp''. In 2008, Plaskett and his father Bill were featured in an episode of the Bravo! television concert series ''The Berkeley Sessions''. Plaskett also appeared as a busker in the film ''One Week''.

He sings a duet, "Gold Soul of Rock n' Roll", with Emm Gryner on her 2010 disc of duets ''Gem and I''.

Personal life

Plaskett is married to Nova Scotia graphic artist and cartoonist Rebecca Kraatz, who provided the artwork for the cover and liner of ''Ashtray Rock'', ''La De Da'', and ''In Need of Medical Attention''. On tour, Plaskett frequently mentions his childhood stay at Camp Wapomeo, a residential summer camp located outside of Yarmouth.

Awards and nominations

Juno Awards

* 2010 - Adult alternative album of the year (Three)

* 2010, 2008, 2006 - Songwriter of the Year (nomination)

* 2004 - Best Alternative Album of the Year, ''La De Da'' (nomination)

* 2002 - Best New Artist of the Year, ''Down At the Khyber'' (nomination)

East Coast Music Awards

* 2010 - Entertainer of the Year

* 2010 - Male Solo Recording of the Year (Three)

* 2010 - Recording of the Year (Three)

* 2010 - Single of the Year (Through & Through & Through)

* 2010 - Songwriter of the Year (Through & Through & Through)

* 2010 - Pop Recording of the Year (Three)

* 2009 - Entertainer of the Year

* 2009, 2008, 2007 - Single of the Year

* 2008, 2007, 2006 - Songwriter of the Year

* 2008 - FACTOR Recording of the Year

* 2008 - Group of the Year

* 2008, 2005 - Rock Recording of the Year

* 2008 - Video of the Year ("Fashionable People")

* 2007 - DVD of the Year (''Make a Little Noise'')

* 2008 - Entertainer of the Year (nomination)

* 2006 - Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Video of the Year

* 2005 - Album of the Year, Group of the Year (nomination)

* 2002 - Rock Recording of the Year, Best New Artist of the Year, Video of the Year (nomination)

Music NS Awards

* 2007, 2006 - Songwriter of the Year

* 2007, 2006, 2004 - Entertainer of The Year

* 2007, 2005 - Album of the Year

* 2007, 2004 - Group of The Year

* 2007, 2005 - Pop Rock Recording of the Year

* 2007 - Video of the Year ("Fashionable People")

* 2006 - Single of the Year (nomination)

* 2005 - Male Artist of the Year

* 2004 - Alternative Recording of the Year

CMW Indie Awards

* 2008 - Favorite Rock Artist/ Group of the Year (nomination)

* 2008 - Galaxie Rising Star Award (nomination)

Polaris Music Prize

* 2009 - ''Three'' (nomination)

* 2007 - ''Ashtray Rock'' (nomination)

Billboard World Song Contest

* 2008 - Pop Category, "Fashionable People" (WON)

Great American Song Contest

* 2009 - Pop Category, "Face of the Earth" (WON)

* 2008 - Pop Category, "Fashionable People" (WON)

* 2006 - Pop Category,"Nowhere with You" (WON)

COCA Award

* 2008 - Best Mainstage Artist

Canadian Radio Music Award

* 2007 - Best New Solo Artist, Hot AC

CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards

* 2007 - Best Falsetto ("Fashionable People")

* 2007 - Song Most Likely to be a Future Classic

* 2006 - #1 Top 94 List

''The Coast''

* 2007 - Top 50 CDs of the Year

* 2007, 2006, 2005 - Best Canadian Male Musician

* 2007 - Best Canadian Solo Artist

* 2006, 2005 - Best Local Male Musician

* 2006, 2002 - Best Local Album

* 2005 - Best Local Song

* 2004, 2003 - Best Local Band, Best Local Album

* 2003 - Best Local Live Act

* 2002 - Best Video

* 2002 - Best Male Solo Artist

Discography

Thrush Hermit

1994: ''Smart Bomb'', EP

1995: ''The Great Pacific Ocean'', EP

1997: ''Rock and Roll Detective'', EP

1997: ''Sweet Homewrecker''

1999: ''Clayton Park''

Neuseiland

1999: ''Neuseiland''

Solo albums

1999: ''In Need of Medical Attention''

2005: ''La De Da''

2009: ''Three''

2009: ''Three More'' (EP)

Joel Plaskett Emergency

2001: ''Down at the Khyber''

2003: ''Truthfully, Truthfully''

2006: ''Make a Little Noise'' (DVD/EP)

2007: ''Ashtray Rock''

2011: ''EMERGENCYs, false alarms, shipwrecks, castaways, fragile creatures, special features, demons and demonstrations''

Singles

{|class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Song ! colspan="2"| Chart peak ! rowspan="2"| Album |- ! width="40"|CANAlt ! width="40"|CANRock |- | rowspan="1"|2011 | "Jimmie's Still Jimmie" | align="center"| 26 | align="center"| 25 | rowspan="1"|''Jimmie's Still Jimme / That's Not Joel'' (with Shotgun Jimmie) |- ! colspan="10"| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. |- |}

References

External links

Joel Plaskett

The Joel Plaskett Emergency at CBC Radio 3

Category:1975 births Category:Canadian indie rock musicians Category:Canadian rock guitarists Category:Canadian male singers Category:Canadian rock singers Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Nova Scotia Category:People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Juno Award winners